There
are many diseases and illnesses that can affect anyone at any time. Some
illnesses can be seen on the outside, others are psychological and cannot be
seen. If it can be seen or not, it is still a great problem for the person
suffering. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a psychological disorder. After
experiencing a great trauma or stress event, the mind has trouble registering
what happened. Post-traumatic stress disorder is something that can happen to
anyone. There is great stigma around post-traumatic stress disorder and the
person suffering being seen as weak.
The
following essay is based on a conversation with a thirty-five-year-old male.
This man is in the US Navy and has been for the past fifteen years. This man is
suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from his time spent overseas. He
spent a lot of time in Afghanistan and Iraq. This man has been suffering from
severe post-traumatic stress disorder for the past two years.
People suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder live a different
life than most people who do not have the disorder. From the simple day to day
things, to acting out even when they are sleeping, is different than people who
do not have post-traumatic stress disorder. A day in the life of a person with post-traumatic
stress disorder is very interesting, yet often very sad. The way they view the
world has changed, and it often seems like there is no coming back for them. Learning
about the way a person with post-traumatic stress disorder sees the world can
be very insightful.
There are many
psychological and emotional changes post-traumatic stress disorder brings
about. Feeling left out of a group of a group of friends or even singled out by
family can cause the person with the disorder more depression and anxiety. The
person with the disorder is already feeling alone, the last thing they need it
to feel that from other people. It is hard feeling like because of a disorder
you have no control over, people look at you differently. Just look at the facts
that more than 200,000 veterans have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress
disorder and roughly eighteen of them a day commit suicide. A lot of the people
with post-traumatic stress disorder have a hard time dealing with all the
psychological changes that come with the disorder. The depression and anxiety
seem to be the worst for some people. Having flashbacks often happens as well.
Hearing a loud sound may often scare that person more than it would a “normal”
person. Nightmares can also occur, and even be debilitating. Not being able to
sleep because you are afraid of the nightmares ends up making all the other
symptoms worse.
With
post-traumatic stress disorder, there are good days and bad days, sometimes it
seems more bad days. Sometime when it is a bad day you end up taking it out on
the people around you, even if you don’t mean to. Loved ones seem to get the
worse of this disorder. Sometimes the smallest things can make a person with
post-traumatic stress disorder lose their cool. One of the hardest parts in the
nightmares. Often the person is waking up in a panic in the middle of the
night. Sometimes acting out violently in the middle of their sleep. Something
just as simple as a car going by the house at night and the lights shining in
the window, can have a great effect on a person. Then because they become
afraid of the nightmares, they try not to sleep. Then that leads to making all
the other things during the day worse.
Post-traumatic
stress disorder greatly affects peoples’ social lives. Outsiders often think
that people with post-traumatic stress disorder are ticking time bombs and can
explode at any time. Some times that example can be true, but that is part of
the problem, it is not always true. People who are aware that their friend has
post-traumatic stress disorder will often treat them differently. People will
often treat someone they know almost as if they are a child, like they need to
be taken care of and everyone needs to watch what they say and do around that
person. While there are times that people need to be more sensitive about some
subjects being overly careful can give the person suffering with the disorder
more anxiety. Going out in public with people is now a new experience. Small
things can trigger memories and flashbacks. Driving down the road and seeing a
certain type of car can even bring about flash backs. Driving past parked cars
will also sometimes induce a type of anxiety, for fear that there is someone in
the car about to shoot, or that the car has a bomb in it and will explode and
the person passes by it. It is the simple things in day to day life that a
person who does not have post-traumatic stress disorder will not understand.
To help deal with
these issues of post-traumatic stress disorder the military does not seem to do
all that they can. The military will supply medications to help with
depression, anxiety and sleep. The military will also do weekly therapy
sessions. Even though the military offers therapy and medication, the military
needs more education on post-traumatic stress disorder. There should be more
training on post-traumatic stress disorder for the people going off to war and
the service members that are staying state side. When the service members are
coming home from war and have to go back to regular work, the people they work
with need to understand the changed the other person is going through. Everyone
in all level of the service need to understand the effects of post-traumatic
stress disorder in a person. A higher-level person needs to take into
consideration the person with the disorders new life style. Doctor visits are a
one to two time a week thing, and they need to understand the importance of
those visits. A lower level person needs to understand that the person with the
disorder might be having a bad day, and in a way, take it out on them.
A lot of people with post-traumatic stress
disorder self-medicate. Even though you may see a therapist and take prescription
medications, it might not help. Sometimes even just the side effects of the
prescription medications a person takes, makes other parts of their life worse.
A lot of people with post-traumatic stress disorder turn to alcohol. People not
sill in the military turn to other things, but in the military, it is easier to
get away with drinking. It can start with a drink at dinner, then a few after
that. Then you can feel like you need a few drinks to sleep. When you wake up
in the morning all your problems are still there, and now you have a hangover,
so you take another drink. It can become quite the problem. It also does not
help that all the medication you take states to not take it with alcohol, but
you do anyway. Then the side effect of the medication get worse. The person
gets stuck in this cycle of just trying to cope with post-traumatic stress
disorder and cannot even get down to the main causes.
Health and
healing can be described as the state a person is in. A person can be in good
or bad health. A person can also be in different states of healing. With post-traumatic
stress disorder, there are several different levels of healing a person must go
through. Sometimes that starts off as physical healing, if they have an injury.
Then there are different levels of mental healing. Talking with a professional,
and getting on the correct medication is a good start to healing and improving
ones mental health.
Three of the most
important facts about illness and healing are simple. Even though you cannot
see an illness such as post-traumatic stress disorder, it does not make it any
less real than any other illness. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a very
serious thing and needs to be dealt with as so. The healing process is
different for everyone. Healing from post-traumatic stress disorder will not
happen overnight and might not happen at all. It is a day to day struggle and
something that some people might have to learn to live with forever. Another
thing about healing is the stigma around people with mental disorders needs to
change. People with post-traumatic stress disorder have a hard-enough time in
their own heads, they do not need people on the outside of it judging them. “Stigma is when someone views you in a
negative way because you have a distinguishing characteristic or personal trait
that's thought to be, or actually is, a disadvantage (a negative stereotype).
Unfortunately, negative attitudes and beliefs toward people who have a mental
health condition are common” (Mayo 2014).
Giving negative qualities to a disease or
disorder is an example of stigma. An example of this is a person who has post-traumatic
stress disorder is often viewed as a damaged or broken person. That feeling of
being damaged leads to more negative feelings and shame that the person now
must deal with. Military members have more stigma in regards to their mental
health. Military members are viewed as strong, physically and mentally, and are
supposed to be invincible. When a military member has a psychological problem,
they are going to be less likely to say anything about it. The military member
does not want to seem weak to their other service members and their families.
Social and self-stigma that the military must
deal with is a great problem. “The present research examined the stigma
associated with psychological problems among service members returning from the
United States peacekeeping mission to Bosnia. The results show that admitting a
psychological problem in the military is perceived as much more stigmatizing
than admitting a medical problem. Service members had more concerns about
stigmatization and felt more uncomfortable discussing psychological problems
than medical problems, and these feelings were magnified when service members
were being screened with their units rather than alone” (Britt T.W. 2000). Any
person serving in any branch of the military could be prone to coming down with
post-traumatic stress disorder. The stigma connected to post traumatic stress
disorder in the military needs to be talked about. More education about the
disorder can help with the stigma attached to the disorder.
In some
ways, post-traumatic stress disorder could almost be a cultural disorder.
Different cultures look and react to things can be different for others. One
culture can be more exposed to things like shootings, explosions, and death.
Another culture may not be as exposed to such things or not as often. Some
places might have death and disease just be common and not as taboo as others.
When a person who is not used to being in a place with the constant fear of
death, that can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder for the person. Going
from a more peaceful way of life, and thrown into a completely different way of
living can have a serious impact on a person’s life.
References:
Britt, T.W. (2000). The stigma of psychological problems in a work environment: Evidence from the screening of service members returning from Bosnia. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30, 1599-1618.
Mayo Clinic Staff 2014 Mental health:
Overcoming the stigma of mental illness
False beliefs about
mental illness can cause significant problems. Learn what you can do about
stigma. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/in-depth/mental-health/ART-20046477
Copyright © 2017 Kate Stap
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